Method for selectively depositing a conductive coating over a patterning coating and device including a conductive coating

ABSTRACT

A device includes: (1) a substrate; (2) a patterning coating covering at least a portion of the substrate, the patterning coating including a first region and a second region; and (3) a conductive coating covering the second region of the patterning coating, wherein the first region has a first initial sticking probability for a material of the conductive coating, the second region has a second initial sticking probability for the material of the conductive coating, and the second initial sticking probability is different from the first initial sticking probability.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a National Stage Entry of International ApplicationNo. PCT/IB2018/053499, filed May 17, 2018, which claims the benefit ofand priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/507,760, filed May17, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/515,432, filed Jun. 5,2017, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following generally relates to a method for depositing a conductivecoating on a surface. Specifically, the method relates to selectivedeposition of a conductive coating on a surface using a patterningcoating.

BACKGROUND

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) typically include several layersof organic materials interposed between conductive thin film electrodes,with at least one of the organic layers being an electroluminescentlayer. When a voltage is applied to electrodes, holes and electrons areinjected from an anode and a cathode, respectively. The holes andelectrons injected by the electrodes migrate through the organic layersto reach the electroluminescent layer. When a hole and an electron arein close proximity, they are attracted to each other due to a Coulombforce. The hole and electron may then combine to form a bound statereferred to as an exciton. An exciton may decay through a radiativerecombination process, in which a photon is released. Alternatively, anexciton may decay through a non-radiative recombination process, inwhich no photon is released. It is noted that, as used herein, internalquantum efficiency (IQE) will be understood to be a proportion of allelectron-hole pairs generated in a device which decay through aradiative recombination process.

A radiative recombination process can occur as a fluorescence orphosphorescence process, depending on a spin state of an electron-holepair (namely, an exciton). Specifically, the exciton formed by theelectron-hole pair may be characterized as having a singlet or tripletspin state. Generally, radiative decay of a singlet exciton results influorescence, whereas radiative decay of a triplet exciton results inphosphorescence.

More recently, other light emission mechanisms for OLEDs have beenproposed and investigated, including thermally activated delayedfluorescence (TADF). Briefly, TADF emission occurs through a conversionof triplet excitons into singlet excitons via a reverse inter systemcrossing process with the aid of thermal energy, followed by radiativedecay of the singlet excitons.

An external quantum efficiency (EQE) of an OLED device may refer to aratio of charge carriers provided to the OLED device relative to anumber of photons emitted by the device. For example, an EQE of 100%indicates that one photon is emitted for each electron that is injectedinto the device. As will be appreciated, an EQE of a device is generallysubstantially lower than an IQE of the device. The difference betweenthe EQE and the IQE can generally be attributed to a number of factorssuch as absorption and reflection of light caused by various componentsof the device.

An OLED device can typically be classified as being either a“bottom-emission” or “top-emission” device, depending on a relativedirection in which light is emitted from the device. In abottom-emission device, light generated as a result of a radiativerecombination process is emitted in a direction towards a base substrateof the device, whereas, in a top-emission device, light is emitted in adirection away from the base substrate. Accordingly, an electrode thatis proximal to the base substrate is generally made to be lighttransmissive (e.g., substantially transparent or semi-transparent) in abottom-emission device, whereas, in a top-emission device, an electrodethat is distal to the base substrate is generally made to be lighttransmissive in order to reduce attenuation of light. Depending on thespecific device structure, either an anode or a cathode may act as atransmissive electrode in top-emission and bottom-emission devices.

An OLED device also may be a double-sided emission device, which isconfigured to emit light in both directions relative to a basesubstrate. For example, a double-sided emission device may include atransmissive anode and a transmissive cathode, such that light from eachpixel is emitted in both directions. In another example, a double-sidedemission display device may include a first set of pixels configured toemit light in one direction, and a second set of pixels configured toemit light in the other direction, such that a single electrode fromeach pixel is transmissive.

In addition to the above device configurations, a transparent orsemi-transparent OLED device also can be implemented, in which thedevice includes a transparent portion which allows external light to betransmitted through the device. For example, in a transparent OLEDdisplay device, a transparent portion may be provided in a non-emissiveregion between each neighboring pixels. In another example, atransparent OLED lighting panel may be formed by providing a pluralityof transparent regions between emissive regions of the panel.Transparent or semi-transparent OLED devices may be bottom-emission,top-emission, or double-sided emission devices.

While either a cathode or an anode can be selected as a transmissiveelectrode, a typical top-emission device includes a light transmissivecathode. Materials which are typically used to form the transmissivecathode include transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), such as indium tinoxide (ITO) and zinc oxide (ZnO), as well as thin films, such as thoseformed by depositing a thin layer of silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), orvarious metallic alloys such as magnesium silver (Mg:Ag) alloy andytterbium silver (Yb:Ag) alloy with compositions ranging from about 1:9to about 9:1 by volume. A multi-layered cathode including two or morelayers of TCOs and/or thin metal films also can be used.

Particularly in the case of thin films, a relatively thin layerthickness of up to about a few tens of nanometers contributes toenhanced transparency and favorable optical properties (e.g., reducedmicrocavity effects) for use in OLEDs. However, a reduction in thethickness of a transmissive electrode is accompanied by an increase inits sheet resistance. An electrode with a high sheet resistance isgenerally undesirable for use in OLEDs, since it creates a largecurrent-resistance (IR) drop when a device is in use, which isdetrimental to the performance and efficiency of OLEDs. The IR drop canbe compensated to some extent by increasing a power supply level;however, when the power supply level is increased for one pixel,voltages supplied to other components are also increased to maintainproper operation of the device, and thus is unfavorable.

In order to reduce power supply specifications for top-emission OLEDdevices, solutions have been proposed to form busbar structures orauxiliary electrodes on the devices. For example, such an auxiliaryelectrode may be formed by depositing a conductive coating in electricalcommunication with a transmissive electrode of an OLED device. Such anauxiliary electrode may allow current to be carried more effectively tovarious regions of the device by lowering a sheet resistance and anassociated IR drop of the transmissive electrode.

During fabrication of thin-film opto-electronic devices, selectivedeposition of fine features is typically achieved by using a shadow maskin conjunction with a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, such asevaporation. For example, devices such as OLEDs are typically fabricatedby selectively depositing various materials such as emitters throughapertures of a shadow mask. While such deposition process may besuitable for depositing organic materials, shadow mask deposition may behighly undesirable for depositing other materials such as metals. Forexample, since masks are typically metallic masks, they have a tendencyto warp during a high-temperature deposition process, thereby distortingmask apertures and a resulting deposition pattern. Furthermore, a maskis typically degraded through successive depositions, as a depositedmaterial adheres to the mask and obfuscates features of the mask.Consequently, such a mask either should be cleaned using time-consumingand expensive processes or should be disposed once the mask is deemed tobe ineffective at producing a desired pattern, thereby rendering suchprocess highly costly and complex. Accordingly, a shadow mask processmay not be commercially feasible for depositing materials such as metalsfor mass production of OLED devices.

Another challenge of patterning a conductive coating onto a surfacethrough a shadow mask is that certain, but not all, patterns can beachieved using a single mask. As each portion of the mask is physicallysupported, not all patterns are possible in a single processing stage.For example, where a pattern specifies an isolated feature, a singlemask processing stage typically cannot be used to achieve the desiredpattern. In addition, masks which are used to produce repeatingstructures (e.g., busbar structures or auxiliary electrodes) spreadacross an entire device surface include a large number of perforationsor apertures formed on the masks. However, forming a large number ofapertures on a mask can compromise the structural integrity of the mask,thus leading to significant warping or deformation of the mask duringprocessing which can distort a pattern of deposited structures.

In addition to the above, shadow masks used for high-resolutionpatterning or patterning of fine features are generally expensive and apattern (e.g., aperture size and layout) cannot be readily reconfiguredor changed.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments, a device includes: (1) a substrate; (2) apatterning coating covering at least a portion of the substrate, thepatterning coating including a first region and a second region; and (3)a conductive coating covering the second region of the patterningcoating, wherein the first region has a first initial stickingprobability for a material of the conductive coating, the second regionhas a second initial sticking probability for the material of theconductive coating, and the second initial sticking probability isdifferent from the first initial sticking probability.

According to some embodiments, a method of selectively depositing aconductive coating includes: (1) providing a substrate and a patterningcoating covering a surface of the substrate; (2) treating the patterningcoating to form a first region having a first initial stickingprobability for a conductive coating material, and a second regionhaving a second initial sticking probability for the conductive coatingmaterial; and (3) depositing the conductive coating material to form theconductive coating covering the second region of the patterning coating.

According to some embodiments, a method of manufacturing anopto-electronic device includes: (1) providing a substrate including anemissive region and a non-emissive region, the emissive regionincluding: (i) a first electrode and a second electrode, and (ii) asemiconducting layer disposed between the first electrode and the secondelectrode; (2) depositing a patterning coating covering the emissiveregion and the non-emissive region; (3) treating a portion of thepatterning coating covering the non-emissive region to increase aninitial sticking probability of the treated portion of the patterningcoating; and (4) depositing a conductive coating covering thenon-emissive region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments will now be described by way of example with referenceto the appended drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a patterning coatingprovided on a substrate surface according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a treatment of apatterning coating according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating a treatment of apatterning coating according to another embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a top view of the treated patterningcoating according to the embodiment of FIG. 2B;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the deposition of aconductive coating on the treated patterning coating of FIG. 3 accordingto one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a top view of the treated patterningcoating and the conductive coating according to the embodiment of FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the deposition of aconductive coating on the treated patterning coating of FIG. 3 accordingto another embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a top view of the treated patterningcoating and the conductive coating according to the embodiment of FIG.6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a top view of the treated patterningcoating and the conductive coating according to one embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view of anactive matrix OLED device at one stage of fabrication according to anembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view ofthe active matrix OLED device at another stage of fabrication accordingto the embodiment of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view ofthe active matrix OLED device at yet another stage of fabricationaccording to the embodiment of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view ofthe active matrix OLED device at yet another stage of fabricationaccording to the embodiment of FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a top view of a portion ofan active matrix OLED device according to one embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a top view of a portion ofan active matrix OLED device according to another embodiment;

FIG. 15 is schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view of anactive matrix OLED device according to an embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a top view of a portion ofan active matrix OLED device according to one embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view ofthe active matrix OLED device according to the embodiment of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional profilearound an interface of a first region and a second region of apatterning coating according to one embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional profilearound an interface of a first region and a second region of apatterning coating according to one embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional profilearound an interface of a first region and a second region of apatterning coating according to one embodiment; and

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectional profilearound an interface of a first region and a second region of apatterning coating according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated amongthe figures to indicate corresponding or analogous components. Inaddition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of example embodiments described herein. However,it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that theexample embodiments described herein may be practiced without some ofthose specific details. In other instances, certain methods, proceduresand components have not been described in detail so as not to obscurethe example embodiments described herein.

In one aspect according to some embodiments, a method for selectivelydepositing a conductive coating on a portion of a surface is provided.In some embodiments, the method is performed in the context of amanufacturing method of an opto-electronic device. In some embodiments,the method is performed in the context of a manufacturing method ofanother device. In some embodiments, the method includes depositing apatterning coating on a surface of a substrate. The method also includestreating the patterning coating to form a first region having a firstinitial sticking probability, and a second region having a secondinitial sticking probability. The conductive coating is then depositedto cover the second region of the patterning coating. In someembodiments, a material of the conductive coating includes magnesium.The second initial sticking probability may be higher than the firstinitial sticking probability. In some embodiments, treating thepatterning coating includes subjecting the first region or the secondregion to an electromagnetic radiation. In some embodiments, theelectromagnetic radiation is ultraviolet radiation or extremeultraviolet radiation.

As used herein, a patterning coating refers to a coating or a layer of amaterial having a surface which, upon being treated, allows a materialfor forming a conductive coating (e.g., a conductive coating material)to be selectively deposited on a portion thereof. In some embodiments,the patterning coating may be formed by a patterning material, which,upon being treated, exhibits a different affinity towards deposition ofthe conductive coating material. For example, a patterning coating mayexhibit a relatively low affinity towards deposition of the conductivecoating material when the patterning coating is untreated, but mayexhibit a relatively high affinity towards deposition of the conductivecoating material upon being treated. In another example, a patterningcoating may exhibit a relatively high affinity towards deposition of theconductive coating material when the patterning coating is untreated,but may exhibit a relatively low affinity towards deposition of theconductive coating material upon being treated. For example, theconductive coating material may be, or may include, a metallic materialor a metal-based material.

One measure of affinity of a surface is an initial sticking probabilityof the surface for a material for forming a conductive coating, such asmagnesium. For example, a region of a patterning coating exhibitingrelatively low affinity with respect to the material for forming theconductive coating can refer to a region having a surface which exhibitsa relatively low initial sticking probability for an evaporated flux ofthe conductive coating material, such that deposition of the conductivecoating on the surface is inhibited due to nucleation inhibitingproperty of such region of the patterning coating. A region of thepatterning coating exhibiting relatively high affinity with respect tothe material for forming the conductive coating can refer to a regionhaving a surface which exhibits a relatively high initial stickingprobability for the evaporated flux of the conductive coating material,such that deposition of the conductive coating on the surface isrelatively facilitated due to nucleation promoting property of suchregion of the patterning coating. As used herein, the terms “stickingprobability” and “sticking coefficient” may be used interchangeably.Another measure of nucleation inhibiting or nucleation promotingproperty of a surface is an initial deposition rate of a metallicmaterial, such as magnesium, on the surface relative to an initialdeposition rate of the metallic material on another (reference) surface,where both surfaces are subjected or exposed to an evaporation flux ofthe metallic material.

As used herein, the terms “evaporation” and “sublimation” areinterchangeably used to generally refer to deposition processes in whicha source material is converted into a vapor (e.g., by heating) to bedeposited onto a target surface in, for example, a solid state.

As used herein, a surface (or a certain area of the surface) which is“substantially free of” or “is substantially uncovered by” a materialrefers to a substantial absence of the material on the surface (or thecertain area of the surface). Specifically regarding a conductivecoating, one measure of an amount of a conductive coating material on asurface is a light transmittance, since electrically conductivematerials, such as metals including magnesium, attenuate and/or absorblight. Accordingly, a surface can be deemed to be substantially free ofan electrically conductive material if the light transmittance isgreater than 90%, greater than 92%, greater than 95%, or greater than98% in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Anothermeasure of an amount of a material on a surface is a percentage coverageof the surface by the material, such as where the surface can be deemedto be substantially free of the material if the percentage coverage bythe material is no greater than 10%, no greater than 8%, no greater than5%, no greater than 3%, or no greater than 1%. Surface coverage can beassessed using imaging techniques, such as using transmission electronmicroscopy, atomic force microscopy, or scanning electron microscopy.

As used herein, the term “crystallinity” refers to the degree ofstructural order which exists within a material. A crystalline materialis generally a material exhibiting relatively high degree of structuralorder, and a non-crystalline or amorphous material is generally amaterial exhibiting relatively low degree of structural order.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a patterning coating 110 provided on asurface of a substrate 100 according to one embodiment. For example, thepatterning coating 110 may be formed by a physical vapor depositionprocess (e.g., evaporation), a micro-contact transfer printing process,or other processes and techniques including but not limited tophotolithography, printing (including ink or vapor jet printing andreel-to-reel printing), organic vapor phase deposition (OVPD), laserinduced thermal imaging (LITI) patterning, and combinations thereof.

In FIG. 2A, portions of the patterning coating 110 is treated to producea first region 112 (or a set of first regions 112) exhibiting a firstaffinity or first initial sticking coefficient towards deposition of aconductive coating material, and a second region 114 (or a set of secondregions 114) exhibiting a second affinity or second initial stickingcoefficient towards deposition of the conductive coating material whichis different from the first affinity or first initial stickingcoefficient. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A, the second region114 is selectively treated to enhance or increase the affinity orinitial sticking coefficient of the second region 114 relative to thatof the first region 112. In other words, the second affinity or secondinitial sticking coefficient is greater than the first affinity or firstinitial sticking coefficient. For example, the second region 114 of thepatterning coating 110 may be treated by selectively exposing the secondregion 114 to an electromagnetic radiation. The electromagneticradiation may, for example, be ultraviolet (UV) radiation or extremeultraviolet (EUV) radiation. For example, UV radiation may have awavelength from about 10 nm to about 400 nm, and EUV radiation may havea wavelength from about 10 nm to about 124 nm. Additional examples ofradiation wavelength include a wavelength of about 436 nm correspondingto g-line, a wavelength of about 405 nm corresponding to h-line, awavelength of about 365 nm corresponding to i-line, a wavelength ofabout 248 nm corresponding to Krypton fluoride (KrF) lasers, awavelength of about 193 nm corresponding to Argon fluoride (ArF) lasers,and a wavelength of about 13.5 nm corresponding to EUV light sources. Anelectromagnetic radiation having other wavelength(s) may be used inother examples. For example, a wavelength of the electromagneticradiation may be from UV (e.g., about 10 nm) to microwave (e.g., about 1m). For example, the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation may befrom about 10 nm to about 500 nm, from about 100 nm to about 500 nm,from about 200 nm to about 400 nm, from about 250 nm to about 390 nm,from about 300 nm to about 390 nm, or from about 320 nm to about 370 nm.In another example, treating the patterning coating 110 may includeheating the patterning coating 110 or portions thereof to modify theaffinity or initial sticking coefficient. For example, the second region114 of the patterning coating 110 may be treated by localized heating orby being exposed to infrared (IR) radiation. The electromagneticradiation for treating the patterning coating 110 may be provided, forexample, by a laser. For example, the laser may be configured to emit anelectromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from UV (e.g., about 10nm) to microwave (e.g., about 1 m). It may be particularly advantageousin some applications to conduct the treatment of the patterning coating110 using a laser, since a variety of different patterns may typicallybe achieved with little to no modification of an equipment set up.Furthermore, lasers such as single-frequency lasers typically have arelatively narrow linewidth, thus facilitating targeted and controlledmodification of properties (e.g., affinity or initial stickingcoefficient) of a treated region of the patterning coating 110.Additionally, a relatively small beam diameter may be achieved for manylaser systems, thus allowing patterning of relatively fine featuresusing such systems.

In other embodiments, the patterning coating 110 may be treated bysubjecting a portion of the patterning coating 110 to ionizing radiationor bombardment of particles. For example, the patterning coating 110 maybe treated by selectively bombarding a portion of the patterning coating110 with energetic subatomic particles (including electrons), ions,and/or atoms. The particles may be provided as a collimated beam, or maybe uncollimated. For example, the patterning coating 110 may be treatedby selectively exposing portions of the patterning coating 110 to anelectron beam. Referring to FIG. 2A, the second region 114 of thepatterning coating may be subjected to an ionization radiation orbombardment of particles to modify the affinity or the initial stickingcoefficient of the patterning coating 110 in the second region 114. Forexample, the affinity or the initial sticking probability of the secondregion 114 after the treatment may be higher than the affinity or theinitial sticking coefficient of the untreated first region 112.Alternatively, in another example, the affinity or the initial stickingcoefficient of the second region 114 after the treatment may be lowerthan the affinity or the initial sticking coefficient of the untreatedfirst region 112.

Without wishing to be bound by a particular theory, it is postulatedthat subjecting the patterning coating 110 to a treatment may modify thepatterning coating 110 to result in a different affinity towardsdeposition of a conductive coating material thereon.

For example, it has now been observed that, at least in some cases, apatterning coating having a relatively high crystallinity (or highdegree of crystallinity) exhibits higher affinity towards deposition ofa conductive coating material (e.g., substantially pure magnesium)compared to the patterning coating having a relatively low crystallinity(or low degree of crystallinity). Accordingly, in some embodiments, apatterning coating having a relatively low crystallinity may be providedon a surface of a substrate. The patterning coating may then be treatedto increase the crystallinity in a treated region of the patterningcoating. After being treated, the patterning coating may exhibit greatercrystallinity in the treated region compared to an untreated region. Thetreated patterning coating may then be subjected to an evaporated fluxof the conductive coating material to cause selective deposition of theconductive coating material over the treated region of the patterningcoating. In some embodiments, the patterning coating may benon-crystalline or amorphous prior to treatment. In such embodiments,the patterning coating may be selectively treated to form crystallineregions, such that a conductive coating material may be selectivelydeposited on a crystalline region of the patterning coating, whileinhibiting deposition of the conductive coating material on anon-crystalline or amorphous region of the patterning coating. Examplesof treatments which may be used to modify the crystallinity include, butare not limited to, annealing (e.g., laser annealing), heating, exposureto electromagnetic radiation, and combinations thereof. For example, aregion of the patterning coating may be treated by selectively heatingthe region above a patterning coating material's glass transitiontemperature (T_(g)). In a further example, the region may be graduallycooled to allow the material to crystallize at a controlled rate. Inanother example, a region of the patterning coating may be treated byselectively heating the region above the patterning coating material'smelting temperature (T_(m)).

In another embodiment, a patterning coating having a relatively highcrystallinity may be provided on a surface of a substrate. Thepatterning coating may then be treated to decrease the crystallinity ina treated region of the patterning coating. Accordingly, after thetreatment, the patterning coating may exhibit lower crystallinity in thetreated region compared to an untreated region. The treated patterningcoating may then be subjected to an evaporated flux of a conductivecoating material to cause selective deposition of the conductive coatingmaterial over the untreated region of the patterning coating. Forexample, the untreated region of the patterning coating may besubstantially crystalline, and the treated region of the patterningcoating may be substantially non-crystalline or amorphous.

While the above example has been described in relation to a patterningcoating wherein the patterning coating exhibits higher affinity towardsdeposition of a conductive coating material when the crystallinity isrelatively high, it will be appreciated that a similar process may beused to achieve selective deposition using a patterning coating whereinthe patterning coating exhibits lower affinity towards deposition of aconductive coating material when the crystallinity is relatively high.In other examples, a treated region may exhibit lower affinity orinitial sticking probability for deposition of the conductive coatingmaterial, thus resulting in selective deposition of the conductivecoating material over untreated region of the patterning coating.

It has also been postulated that the presence of certain functionalgroups or terminal groups in a patterning coating material or compoundmay significantly affect the affinity or initial sticking coefficient ofa patterning coating towards deposition of a conductive coatingmaterial. Accordingly, in some embodiments, a region or portion of thepatterning coating may be treated to react or modify the patterningcoating material.

In one example, a patterning coating having a surface with a relativelylow affinity or initial sticking probability for deposition of aconductive coating material may be provided on a substrate surface. Thepatterning coating may then be treated to react or modify a patterningcoating material in a treated region of the patterning coating, thusincreasing the affinity or initial sticking coefficient of thepatterning coating material in the treated region. For example, thepatterning coating may be treated to physically or chemically modify thetreated region of the patterning coating, thus increasing the affinityor initial sticking coefficient of the patterning coating. In this way,the patterning coating may be subjected to an evaporated flux of theconductive coating material to cause selective deposition of theconductive coating material over the treated region of the patterningcoating.

In another example, a patterning coating having a surface with arelatively high affinity or initial sticking probability for depositionof a conductive coating material may be provided on a substrate surface.The patterning coating may then be treated to react or modify apatterning coating material in a treated region of the patterningcoating, thus decreasing the affinity or initial sticking coefficient ofthe patterning coating material in the treated region. For example, thepatterning coating may be treated to physically or chemically modify thetreated region of the patterning coating, thus decreasing the affinityor initial sticking coefficient of the patterning coating. The treatedpatterning coating may then be subjected to an evaporated flux of theconductive coating material to cause selective deposition of theconductive coating material over an untreated region of the patterningcoating.

Examples of treatments which may be used to react or modify thepatterning coating material include, but are not limited to, heating,exposure to electromagnetic radiation or ionizing radiation, bombardmentof particles such as electrons, exposure to plasma treatment, exposureto chemical sensitizing agent, and combinations thereof.

Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it is postulatedthat subjecting a patterning coating to electromagnetic radiation suchas UV radiation or EUV radiation may cause a compound used to form thepatterning coating to be reacted, thus removing or modifying certainfunctional groups or terminal groups present in such compound. Forexample, such treatment may cause dissociation of certain functionalgroups, terminal groups, or complex present in such compound. Forexample, an electromagnetic radiation may be used to break bonds (e.g.,covalent, ionic, and/or dative bonds) of the compound, or react certainspecies or functional groups of the compound to cause a change in theaffinity or initial sticking probability towards deposition of aconductive coating material. In another example, irradiating thecompound may result in formation of additional bonds or incorporation ofan additional atom or molecule into the compound (e.g., through reactingwith another species or identical species), thus modifying thecharacteristics and the affinity of the patterning coating towardsdeposition of the conductive coating material. In yet another example,treating the patterning coating may cause a patterning coating materialto cross-link, thus modifying the characteristics and properties of thepatterning coating material. In yet another example, treating thepatterning coating may cause monomers of a patterning coating materialto polymerize, thus modifying the characteristics and properties of thepatterning coating material. In yet another example, the patterningcoating material may be cross-linked prior to treatment, and, bysubjecting the material to treatment (e.g., irradiation byelectromagnetic radiation), the material become uncross-linked, thusmodifying the characteristics and properties of the patterning coatingmaterial. In a further example, uncross-linked materials may optionallybe removed, for example by dissolving using a solvent or by plasmacleaning, prior to deposition of a conductive coating. In yet anotherexample, treating the patterning coating may induce a change inconformation of the compound used to form such patterning coating. Forexample, treating the patterning coating may induce the compound formingthe patterning coating to transition from a first conformer to a secondconformer. The first confirmer and the second confirmer may exhibitdifferent affinity or initial sticking probability towards deposition ofa conductive coating material. For example, such transition from a firstconformer to a second conformer may be induced by treating thepatterning coating by exposure to electromagnetic radiation, such as UVradiation for example.

It is further postulated that similar changes to a patterning coatingmaterial (e.g., breaking or forming bonds, cross-linking, and so forth)may be caused by other treatments including heating, ionizing radiation,and bombardment of particles. Furthermore, especially in embodimentswhere an ionizing radiation is used to treat a patterning coating, suchtreatment may cause electrons to be removed from atom(s) of a patterningcoating material, thus modifying the affinity or initial stickingcoefficient of the patterning coating.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the patterning coating 110 may be treated undervarious conditions and environments. For example, the patterning coating110 may be treated in air, inert gas, in vacuum, or in the presence of achemical sensitizing agent or other reactive agents. For example, thepatterning coating 110 may be treated in the presence of oxygen and/orwater, such as in air. In other examples, the patterning coating 110 maybe treated in inert gas (such as, for example, nitrogen and/or argonenvironment) or in a vacuum (such as, for example, high vacuum orultrahigh vacuum). In another example, the patterning coating 110 may betreated in the presence of a chemical sensitizing agent or a reactivespecies to cause a chemical reaction. Examples of such chemicalsensitizing agents and reactive species include halogens such asfluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine, halogen-containing species, andvolatile small molecules (which may be in a liquid or a gaseous form,for example).

It will be appreciated that, particularly in cases where the treatmentis conducted by exposing a patterning coating to an electromagneticradiation, the spectrum of the radiation may be tuned to produce thedesired treatment effect. For example, particularly in the case oflasers, a wavelength of a radiation emitted by a laser may be tuned tomatch the energy to form or break particular bond(s) of a compound. Moregenerally, the wavelength of an electromagnetic radiation used fortreatment may be tuned to match the energy to induce a particularchemical reaction for modifying the initial sticking probability of thepatterning coating in a treated region.

In some embodiments, a patterning coating includes a patterning coatingmaterial which absorbs light having certain wavelength(s). Specifically,the patterning coating material may exhibit molecular electronictransitions in which electrons are excitable from a first energy levelto a second energy level, and the energy difference between the firstenergy level and the second energy level may correspond to theabsorption wavelength. In some embodiments, the patterning coating maybe treated by exposing the patterning coating to an electromagneticradiation having a wavelength substantially corresponding to, ormatching, the absorption wavelength of the patterning coating material.Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it is postulatedthat for a patterning coating formed by certain patterning coatingmaterials, treating the patterning coating by exposing the patterningcoating to an electromagnetic radiation having a wavelengthsubstantially corresponding to the absorption wavelength of a patterningcoating material in air may cause the patterning coating to undergo anoxidation reaction, thereby increasing the concentration of an oxygenspecies in a treated portion or region of the patterning coating.Examples of oxygen species include oxygen, hydroxyl group, and otherspecies which includes or incorporates an oxygen atom. It has now beenfound that, at least for some patterning coating materials, the regionof the patterning coating which has been treated and thus includes ahigher concentration of an oxygen species may exhibit a higher affinityor initial sticking probability than an untreated region of thepatterning coating. In some embodiments, the patterning coating includesor is formed by an organic material such as, for example, an organiccompound. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it ispostulated that oxidation of the patterning coating through treatmentcauses certain oxygen species to chemically bond to a portion of thepatterning coating material. For example, such oxygen species maychemically bond to a carbon atom of the patterning coating material,thus forming a C—O bond and/or a C—OH bond, for example. It is furtherpostulated that the presence of such C—O bond and/or a C—OH bond,particularly when formed on a surface of the treated patterning coating,may increase the affinity or initial sticking probability of thepatterning coating with respect to a material for forming a conductivecoating. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the patterning coatingincludes, or is formed by, a patterning coating material which absorbslight having certain wavelength(s), such as for example UV radiation.For example, the patterning coating material may absorb light having awavelength less than about 500 nm, less than about 450 nm, less thanabout 430 nm, less than about 420 nm, less than about 400 nm, less thanabout 390 nm, less than about 380 nm, less than about 370 nm, less thanabout 350 nm, or less than about 330 nm. For example, the patterningcoating material may absorb light having a wavelength from about 300 nmto about 450 nm, from about 330 nm to about 430 nm, from about 350 nm toabout 400 nm, or from about 350 nm to about 380 nm. As would beunderstood, the absorption wavelength of a material may be determinedusing analytical techniques such as ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis)spectroscopy. In some embodiments, a patterning coating includes anaromatic compound which, upon being treated, chemically reacts such thatoxygen species are chemically bonded to one or more carbon atoms formingan aromatic functional group of the compound. In some embodiments, apatterning coating includes polycyclic aromatic compounds.

In another example, a patterning coating may be treated to produce thepatterning coating including a first region having a relatively lowdensity of defects and a second region having a relatively high densityof defects. For example, the second region may be treated to increasethe density of defects on a surface of the patterning coating, while thefirst region may be left untreated. In another example, the first regionmay be treated to decrease the density of defects on the surface of thepatterning coating, while the second region may be left untreated. Forexample, the density of surface defects may be characterized bymeasuring the surface roughness, and/or density of impurities present onthe surface.

In some embodiments, a patterning coating includes two or more differentmaterials. For example, the patterning coating may be formed bydepositing two or more different materials, which upon being treated,react with one another to change the affinity or initial stickingcoefficient of the patterning coating. The two or more differentmaterials may be deposited as separate layers, or as a single layerformed by intermixing the two or more different materials. For example,treating a portion of such patterning coating may cause the materials tochemically react with one another, or cause the molecular structure ofthe material disposed at or proximal to a surface of the patterningcoating to become reoriented, thus modifying the properties of thepatterning coating. In some embodiments, an average molecular weight ofa first material in a first region (having a lower affinity for aconductive coating material) of such patterning coating is differentfrom an average molecular weight of a second material in a second region(having a greater affinity for the conductive coating material) of suchpatterning coating. In some embodiments, the average molecular weight ofthe first material is less than the average molecular weight of thesecond material, such as, for example, about 95% or less, about 90% orless, or about 85% or less.

In some embodiments, a patterning coating includes materials whichself-assemble. For example, the patterning coating may includecopolymers which self-assemble to result in a repeating pattern.Examples of such copolymers include, but are not limited to, blockcopolymers such as diblock copolymers and triblock copolymers. In somecases, a patterning coating material may self-assemble to form arepeating pattern upon being subjected to a treatment. Examples of suchtreatment include, for example, adjustment of the temperature and/or thepH. In other cases, the patterning coating material may self-assembleupon being deposited onto a surface, and thus may not be subjected to atreatment. As would be understood, the patterning coating formed byself-assembled materials may contain regions which exhibit differentaffinity or initial sticking coefficient with respect to deposition of aconductive coating material. Specifically, the patterning coating formedby self-assembly may exhibit a repeating pattern of regions withrelatively low affinity or initial sticking coefficient disposedadjacent to regions with relatively high affinity or initial stickingcoefficient.

In some embodiments, a patterning coating may be treated by removing aportion or region of the patterning coating to expose an underlyingsurface. For example, a portion of the patterning coating may be ablatedto remove the material forming such portion of the patterning coating.In this way, the surface underlying the patterning coating may beexposed. Such exposed underlying surface may have a different affinityor initial sticking probability than the patterning coating, and thusselective deposition of a conductive coating may be conducted.

FIG. 2B illustrates a stage of treating the patterning coating 110wherein a photomask 150 is used to selectively expose regions of thepatterning coating 110. Specifically in FIG. 2B, the photomask 150having a plurality of apertures is used to block or inhibit anelectromagnetic radiation from being incident on the first region 112 ofthe patterning coating 110, while allowing passage of theelectromagnetic radiation through the apertures to selectively treat thesecond region 114. In some embodiments, the photomask 150 may be inphysical contact with a portion of the substrate and/or the patterningcoating 110, such that there is substantially no gap provided betweenthe photomask 150 and the surface of the patterning coating 110. In someembodiments, the photomask 150 and the surface of the patterning coating110 may be spaced apart from one another such that the photomask 150 andthe patterning coating 110 are not in physical contact with one another.In some embodiments, optical elements such as lens, reflectors, focusingelements, and/or mirrors may be used to project the pattern of thephotomask 150 onto the patterning coating 110. For example, such opticalelements may be arranged in the optical path of the electromagneticradiation to transmit or reflect such radiation. In some embodiments,the photomask 150 may be a transmission-type photomask, which isconfigured to permit a portion of the light incident on the photomask150 to be transmitted therethrough while inhibiting the remainder oflight from being transmitted to produce a pattern. In some embodiments,the photomask 150 may be a reflection-type photomask, which isconfigured to reflect a portion of the light incident on the photomask150 while inhibiting the remainder of the light from being reflected,thus producing a pattern. Various optical elements may be arrangedbetween a light source and the photomask 150, and/or between thephotomask 150 and the substrate 100. Other elements such as a pellicleand alignment systems may also be provided.

In embodiments wherein the patterning coating 110 is treated by exposureto ionization radiation and/or bombardment of particles (e.g.,electrons), a similar mask as the one depicted in FIG. 2B may be used toselectively subject portions of the patterning coating 110 to suchtreatment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of the treated patterning coating 110following the stage illustrated in FIG. 2B. As illustrated, the secondregion 114 may be formed as a plurality of discrete regions (e.g.,circular regions) that are separated from one another by the firstregion 112 that may be formed as a continuous region. It will beappreciated that, while the second region 114 is illustrated as beingcircular in shape in FIG. 3, the specific shape, size, and configurationof the second region 114 may vary depending on the photomask 150 andthus may be varied in other embodiments.

Once the patterning coating 110 has been treated, the surface of thetreated patterning coating 110 may be subjected to a vapor flux of anevaporated conductive coating material. FIG. 4 illustrates a stage ofsubjecting the treated patterning coating 110 to an evaporated flux tocause selective deposition of a conductive coating 121 thereon. Asexplained above, since the second region 114 exhibits higher affinity orinitial sticking probability compared to the first region 112, theconductive coating 121 is selectively deposited over the second region114 of the patterning coating 110. More specifically in FIG. 4, a metalsource 410 directs the evaporated conductive coating material such thatit is incident on both the first region 112 and the second region 114 ofthe patterning coating 110. However, since the first region 112 of thepatterning coating 110 exhibits a relatively low initial stickingcoefficient compared to that of the second region 114, the conductivecoating 121 selectively deposits onto areas corresponding to the secondregion 114 of the patterning coating 110. This is further illustrated inFIG. 5, which shows a top view of a device following the stage of FIG.4. In FIG. 5, the conductive coating 121 is deposited onto the areascorresponding to the second region 114 of the patterning coating 110,while the first region 112 is substantially free of the conductivecoating material.

In some embodiments, the deposition of the patterning coating 110 and/orthe conductive coating 121 may be conducted using an open-mask ormask-free deposition process.

It will be appreciated that an open mask used for deposition of any ofvarious layers or coatings, including the patterning coating 110 and theconductive coating 121, may “mask” or prevent deposition of a materialon certain regions of the substrate 100. However, unlike a fine metalmask (FMM) used to form relatively small features with a feature size onthe order of tens of microns or smaller, a feature size of an open maskis generally comparable to the size of a device being manufactured. Forexample, the open mask may mask edges of a display device duringmanufacturing, which would result in the open mask having an aperturethat approximately corresponds to a size of the display device (e.g.,about 1 inch for micro-displays, about 4-6 inches for mobile displays,about 8-17 inches for laptop or tablet displays, and so forth). Forexample, the feature size of an open mask may be on the order of about 1cm or greater.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment wherein the deposition of theconductive coating 121 is conducted by subjecting the surface of thetreated patterning coating 110 to a metal vapor flux that is incident onthe surface of patterning coating 110 at a non-normal glancing angle.Since it is postulated that the angle at which the metal vapor flux isincident on the surface of the treated patterning coating 110 affectsthe growth mode, and more specifically the lateral growth mode of theconductive coating 121, the conductive coating 121 formed in this waymay coat at least a portion of the first region 112. For example, theformation of the conductive coating 121 may be confined to areascorresponding to the second region 114 during the initial stages of thedeposition. However, as the conductive coating 121 becomes thicker, theconductive coating 121 may grow laterally in the direction substantiallyparallel to the surface of the patterning coating 110, such that theconductive coating 121 covers or coats at least a portion of the firstregion 112. Depending on the relative size and configuration of thefirst region 112 and the second region 114 as well as the depositionparameter of the conductive coating 121, in at least some embodiments,the conductive coating 121 may exhibit sufficient lateral growth tobridge or cover the first region 112 disposed between neighboring areasof the second region 114. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a top view ofthe conductive coating 121 formed by such process, wherein theconductive coating 121 is formed as strips over the patterning coating110.

It will be appreciated that the patterning coating 110 may be treated tocreate various different shapes, sizes, and configurations of regionswith varying degrees of affinity or initial sticking coefficient withrespect to deposition of the conductive coating material. For example,the patterning coating 110 may be treated to create a grid-like patternof a region exhibiting relatively high affinity or initial stickingcoefficient.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment wherein the patterning coating 110 hasbeen treated to create such grid-like pattern, and the surface of thepatterning coating 110 is subjected to a metal vapor flux to selectivelydeposit the conductive coating 121 thereon. As illustrated, thepatterning coating 110 encompasses regions 110′ which are substantiallyfree of the conductive coating material. In some embodiments, thepatterning coating 110 and the conductive coating 121 illustrated inFIG. 8 may be disposed over an active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) device suchthat the conductive coating 121 acts as an auxiliary electrode. Forexample, the conductive coating 121 may be disposed over non-emissiveregions of the AMOLED device and be in electrical contact with a commoncathode, such that the conductive coating 121 acts as an auxiliaryelectrode to reduce the sheet resistance of the common cathode. In suchexample, the emissive regions of the AMOLED device (e.g., the pixels orsubpixels) may be located in regions 110′, such that the emissiveregions remain substantially free of the conductive coating material.Further details of such embodiments are described, for example, inApplicant's co-pending application WO2017/072678, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

While various embodiments have been described above wherein a region ofthe patterning coating 110 is treated while other region(s) of thepatterning coating 110 remains untreated, different regions of thepatterning coating 110 may be subjected to different treatments ortreatment conditions to form regions having different affinity orinitial sticking coefficients. For example, a first region of thepatterning coating 110 may be subjected to a first treatment to increasethe affinity or initial sticking coefficient of the first region, whilea second region of the patterning coating 110 may be subjected to asecond treatment to decrease the affinity or initial stickingcoefficient of the second region. In another example, a first region ofthe patterning coating 110 may be subjected to a first treatment todecrease the affinity or initial sticking coefficient of the firstregion, while a second region of the patterning coating 110 may besubjected to a second treatment to increase the affinity or initialsticking coefficient of the second region.

It will also be appreciated that the patterning coating 110 may besubjected to various multi-treatment stages, wherein the patterningcoating 110 is subjected to two or more treatment stages prior to beingsubjected to a vapor flux of an evaporated conductive coating material.For example, the treated patterning coating 110 may be subjected to wetprocesses using solvents or plasma-based processes to remove portions ofthe treated patterning coating 110. In a further example, a treatedregion of the patterning coating 110 may be removed using such processesto uncover an underlying surface. In another example, an untreatedregion of the patterning coating 110 may be removed using such processesto uncover the underlying surface.

Coatings, including a patterning coating and a conductive coating, maybe used to fabricate an electronic device in some embodiments. Anexample of such device is an opto-electronic device. An opto-electronicdevice generally encompasses any device that converts electrical signalsinto photons or vice versa. As such, an organic opto-electronic devicecan encompass any opto-electronic device where one or more active layersof the device are formed primarily of an organic material, and, morespecifically, an organic semiconductor material. Examples of organicopto-electronic devices include, but are not limited to, OLED devicesand organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices.

In some embodiments, an organic opto-electronic device is an OLEDdevice, wherein an organic semiconducting layer includes anelectroluminescent layer, which may also be referred to as an emissivelayer. In some embodiments, the organic semiconducting layer may includeadditional layers, such as an electron injection layer, an electrontransport layer, a hole transport layer, and/or a hole injection layer.For example, the hole injection layer may be formed using a holeinjection material which generally facilitates the injection of holes bythe anode. The hole transport layer may be formed using a hole transportmaterial, which is generally a material that exhibits high holemobility. The electroluminescent layer may be formed, for example, bydoping a host material with an emitter material. The emitter materialmay be a fluorescent emitter, a phosphorescent emitter, or a TADFemitter, for example. A plurality of emitter materials may also be dopedinto the host material to form the electroluminescent layer. Theelectron transport layer may be formed using an electron transportmaterial which generally exhibits high electron mobility. The electroninjection layer may be formed using an electron injection material,which generally acts to facilitate the injection of electrons by thecathode.

For example, an OLED device may be an AMOLED device, a passive-matrixOLED (PMOLED) device, or an OLED lighting panel or module. Furthermore,the opto-electronic device may be a part of an electronic device. Forexample, the opto-electronic device may be an OLED display module of acomputing device, such as a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or otherelectronic device such as a monitor or a television set.

It will also be appreciated that organic opto-electronic devices may beformed on various types of base substrates. For example, a basesubstrate may be a flexible or rigid substrate. The base substrate mayinclude, for example, silicon, glass, metal, polymer (e.g., polyimide),sapphire, or other materials suitable for use as the base substrate.

In one aspect, a method for manufacturing an opto-electronic device isprovided. The method includes providing a substrate. The substrateincludes an emissive region and a non-emissive region. The emissiveregion further includes a first electrode and a second electrode, and asemiconducting layer disposed between the first electrode and the secondelectrode. The method includes depositing a patterning coating onto thesubstrate. The patterning coating is deposited to cover both theemissive region and the non-emissive region. The method includestreating the patterning coating disposed in the non-emissive region. Bytreating the patterning coating, the initial sticking probability of thepatterning coating with respect to a conductive coating material isincreased in the non-emissive region. The method includes depositing aconductive coating, where the conductive coating covers the non-emissiveregion. The conductive coating includes the conductive coating material.

FIGS. 9 to 12 illustrate various stages of a method for manufacturing anopto-electronic device 200 according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG.9, the opto-electronic device 200 is illustrated as including a thinfilm transistor (TFT) substrate 230. The TFT substrate 230 includes oneor more TFTs 232 formed therein. For example, such TFTs 232 may beformed by depositing and patterning a series of thin films whenfabricating the TFT substrate 230. The TFT substrate 230 may include,for example, one or more top-gate TFTs, one or more bottom-gate TFTs,and/or other TFT structures. A TFT may be an n-type TFT or a p-type TFT.Examples of TFT structures include those including amorphous silicon(a-Si), indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), and low-temperaturepolycrystalline silicon (LTPS).

A first electrode 240 is provided on the TFT substrate 230 to be inelectrical contact with the one or more TFTs 232. For example, the firstelectrode 240 may be an anode. A pixel definition layer (PDL) 260 isalso provided on the surface of the TFT substrate 230, such that the PDL260 covers the surface of the TFT substrate 230 as well as an edge or aperimeter of the first electrode 240. The PDL 260 defines an openingthrough which a surface of the first electrode 240 is exposed. Theopening defined by the PDL 260 generally corresponds to an emissiveregion 210 of the device 200. For example, the device 200 may include aplurality of openings defined by the PDL 260, and each opening maycorrespond to a pixel or subpixel region of the device 200. The regionof the device 200 in which the PDL 260 is provided generally correspondsto a non-emissive region 220. Accordingly, the emissive region 210 maybe arranged adjacent to the non-emissive region 220 in the device 200. Asemiconducting layer 250 is provided in at least the emissive region 210of the device 200. The semiconducting layer 250 may also optionally beprovided in the non-emissive region 220 of the device 200. For example,the semiconducting layer 250 may be formed as a common layer using anopen mask or mask-free deposition process, such that the semiconductinglayer 250 is disposed both in the emissive region 210 and thenon-emissive region 220. As illustrated, the semiconducting layer 250may be deposited over the exposed surface of the first electrode 240 inthe region corresponding to the opening defined by the PDL 260. In someembodiments wherein the optoelectronic device 200 is an OLED device, thesemiconducting layer 250 includes one or more organic semiconductinglayers. For example, the semiconducting layer 250 may include anemissive layer. In some embodiments, the semiconducting layer 250includes a hole injection layer, an electron blocking layer, a holetransport layer, an emissive layer, an electron transport layer, anelectron injection layer, and any combinations of the foregoing. In someembodiments, the semiconducting layer 250 is deposited using a thermalevaporation process. In some embodiments, a shadow mask is used inconjunction with such thermal evaporation process to selectively depositthe semiconducting layer 250. The device 200 also includes a secondelectrode 270 disposed over the semiconducting layer 250. For example,the second electrode 270 may be a cathode. The second electrode 270 mayinclude various materials used to form light transmissive conductivelayers or coatings. For example, the second electrode 270 may includetransparent conducting oxides (TCOs), metallic or non-metallic thinfilms, and any combination thereof. The second electrode 270 may furtherinclude two or more layers or coatings. For example, such layers orcoatings may be distinct layers or coatings disposed on top of oneanother. The second electrode 270 may include various materialsincluding, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO); zinc oxide (ZnO); otheroxides containing indium, zinc (Zn), and/or gallium (Ga); magnesium(Mg); aluminum (Al); ytterbium (Yb); silver (Ag); Zn; cadmium (Cd); andany combinations thereof, including alloys containing any of theforegoing materials. For example, the second electrode 270 may include aMg:Ag alloy, a Mg:Yb alloy, or a combination thereof. For a Mg:Ag alloyor a Mg:Yb alloy, the alloy composition may range from about 1:9 toabout 9:1 by volume. In other examples, the second electrode 270 mayinclude a Yb/Ag bilayer coating. For example, such bilayer coating maybe formed by depositing a ytterbium coating, followed by a silvercoating. The thickness of the silver coating may be greater than thethickness of the ytterbium coating or vice versa. In yet anotherexample, the second electrode 270 is a multi-layer cathode including oneor more metallic layers and one or more oxide layers. In yet anotherexample, the second electrode 270 may include a fullerene and magnesium.For example, such coating may be formed by depositing a fullerenecoating followed by a magnesium coating. In another example, a fullerenemay be dispersed within a magnesium coating to form afullerene-containing magnesium alloy coating. Examples of such coatingsare further described in US Patent Application Publication No. US2015/0287846 (published Oct. 8, 2015) and in PCT Publication No.WO2018/033860 (PCT Application No. PCT/IB2017/054970 filed Aug. 15,2017), which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.In some embodiments, the deposition of the second electrode 270 isperformed using an open mask or without a mask. For example, the secondelectrode 270 may be formed as a common electrode by subjecting theexposed top surfaces of the PDL 260 and the semiconducting layer 250 toan evaporated flux of a material for forming the second electrode 270.Accordingly, at least in some embodiments, the second electrode 270 maybe provided in both the emissive region 210 and the non-emissive region220.

FIG. 10 illustrates a patterning coating 110 being disposed over thesecond electrode 270. In some embodiments, the deposition of thepatterning coating 110 is performed using an open mask or without amask. For example, the patterning coating 110 may be deposited bysubjecting the exposed top surface of the second electrode 270 to anevaporated flux of a material for forming the patterning coating 110. Inother embodiments, the patterning coating 110 may be formed by othersurface coating methods and techniques including spin coating, dipcoating, printing (including ink jet printing), spray coating, OVPD,LITI patterning, PVD, including sputtering, chemical vapor deposition(CVD), and combinations thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, thepatterning coating 110, when untreated, generally acts as a nucleationinhibiting coating. In other words, the patterning coating 110 exhibitsa relatively low affinity or initial sticking probability towardsdeposition of a conductive coating material when untreated. Asillustrated in FIG. 10, the patterning coating 110 is deposited over,and in direct contact with, the second electrode 270 in someembodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a portion of the patterning coating 110 beingtreated. Specifically, the portion of the patterning coating 110disposed in the non-emissive region 220 is treated to increase theinitial sticking probability or affinity towards deposition of theconductive coating material thereon. Upon selectively treating thepatterning coating 110, a first region 112 and a second region 114 ofthe patterning coating 110 are formed. In the illustrated embodiment,the first region 112 corresponds to a portion of the patterning coating110 which has not been treated (e.g., untreated portion), and the secondregion 114 corresponds to a portion of the patterning coating 110 whichhas been treated (e.g., treated portion). In the illustrated embodiment,the first region 112 is disposed in the emissive region 210 of thedevice 200 and the second region 114 is disposed in the non-emissiveregion 220 of the device 200. As would be appreciated, the second region114 generally exhibits a higher initial sticking probability or affinitythan the first region 112. Various processes and techniques for treatingthe patterning coating 110 have been described in the foregoing, and anysuch processes and techniques may be used to treat the patterningcoating 110 in the illustrated embodiment. In some embodiments, thepatterning coating 110 may be treated by exposing a portion of thepatterning coating 110 arranged in the non-emissive region 220 to anelectromagnetic radiation. For example, such treatment may be performedusing a mask, such as a photomask, or a laser. In some embodiments, abuffer region 215 may be provided in the non-emissive region 220. Forexample, the patterning coating 110 in the buffer region 215 may be leftuntreated or partially treated. The buffer region 215 may generally bearranged adjacent to, or immediately adjacent to, the emissive region210. In some applications, it may be advantageous to provide the bufferregion 215 to reduce the likelihood of the treatment for the patterningcoating 110 affecting other layers, coatings, and/or structures of thedevice 200. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it ispostulated that portions of the device 200, such as for example thesemiconducting layer 250 and the TFT 232, may be susceptible to exposureto certain electromagnetic radiations which may cause materials formingsuch layers and structures to degrade and/or the performance of thedevice 200 to be altered as a result of such exposure. By providing thebuffer region 215, the likelihood of undesirable changes occurring tothe device 200 is reduced. In some embodiments, the device 200 mayinclude a shielding element for reducing the penetration ofelectromagnetic radiation to the TFT substrate 230. For example, suchshielding element may be provided in the non-emissive region 220 of thedevice 200. In some embodiments, the PDL 260 may act as, or form aportion of, such shielding element.

FIG. 12 illustrates the deposition of a conductive coating 121. Theconductive coating 121 is deposited over the second region 114 of thepatterning coating 110 in the non-emissive region 220 of the device 200.In some embodiments, the deposition of the conductive coating 121 isconducted by directing an evaporated flux of a material for forming theconductive coating 121 towards the surfaces of the first region 112 andthe second region 114 of the patterning coating 110. For example, anevaporator source may be used to generate the evaporated flux of theconductive coating material, and direct the evaporated flux such that itis incident on both treated region (e.g., second region 114) anduntreated region (e.g., first region 112) of the device 200. However,since a surface of the untreated patterning coating 110 in the firstregion 112 exhibits a relatively low initial sticking coefficientcompared to that of the treated patterning coating 110 in the secondregion 114, the conductive coating 121 selectively deposits onto areasof the device 200 where the untreated patterning coating 110 is notpresent. In this way, the conductive coating 121 may be selectivelydeposited on the portion of the device 200 corresponding to the secondregion 114 of the patterning coating 110, while keeping the first region112 substantially free of, or uncovered by, the conductive coating 121.In some embodiments, the conductive coating 121 is deposited on top of,and in direct contact with, the second region 114 of the patterningcoating 110. While the conductive coating 121 is illustrated as beingdeposited to selectively cover the second region 114 of the patterningcoating 110, in other embodiments, the conductive coating 121 mayadditionally cover or overlap a portion of the first region 112, such asfor example a region corresponding to a portion of the buffer region215. In another embodiment, a portion of the second region 114 may beexposed from or uncovered by the conductive coating 121. While across-sectional profile of the conductive coating 121 at an edge isillustrated as extending substantially vertically in the embodiment ofFIG. 12, it will be appreciated that such profile may differ in otherembodiments. For example, the edge profile may include curved, linear,vertical, horizontal, and/or angled segments or portions.

The conductive coating 121 may act as an auxiliary electrode or a busbarfor the device 200. Accordingly, the conductive coating 121 may be inelectrical contact with the second electrode 270. In such embodiments,the sheet resistance of the conductive coating 121 may be less than thesheet resistance of the second electrode 270, and thus by electricallycontacting the conductive coating 121 with the second electrode 270, theeffective sheet resistance of the second electrode 270 may be reduced.For example, a thickness of the conductive coating 121 may be greaterthan a thickness of the second electrode 270 to attain a lower sheetresistance, for example, at least about 1.1 times greater, at leastabout 1.3 times greater, at least about 1.5 times greater, or at leastabout 2 times greater.

Particularly in a top-emission AMOLED device, it is desirable to deposita relatively thin layer of the second electrode 270 to reduce opticalinterference (e.g., attenuation, reflection, diffusion, and so forth)due to the presence of the second electrode 270 in the optical path ofthe light emitted by such device. However, a reduced thickness of thesecond electrode 270 generally increases a sheet resistance of thesecond electrode 270, thus reducing the performance and efficiency ofthe OLED device 200. By providing the conductive coating 121 that iselectrically connected to the second electrode 270, the sheet resistanceand thus the IR drop associated with the second electrode 270 can bedecreased. Furthermore, by selectively depositing the conductive coating121 to cover certain regions of the device area while other regionsremain uncovered, optical interference due to the presence of theconductive coating 121 may be controlled and/or reduced. In theillustrated embodiment, for example, the emissive region 210 issubstantially free of, or is uncovered by, the conductive coating 121such that the light emission from the device 200 is not attenuated ornegatively affected by the presence of the conductive coating 121. Whilethe second region 114 of the patterning coating 100 is illustrated asbeing arranged at the interface between the conductive coating 121 andthe second electrode 270, it will be appreciated that the presence ofthe patterning coating 110 may not prevent or substantially inhibit theconductive coating 121 from becoming electrically connected to thesecond electrode 270. For example, the presence of a relatively thinfilm of the patterning coating 110 between the conductive coating 121and the second electrode 270 may still sufficiently allow a current topass therethrough, thus allowing a sheet resistance of the secondelectrode 270 to be reduced.

In some embodiments, the patterning coating 110 may be formed as arelatively thin coating to allow the second electrode 270 and theconductive coating 121 to be electrically connected to each otherwithout significant electrical resistance. For example, the patterningcoating 110 may have a thickness of about 100 nm or less, about 80 nm orless, about 50 nm or less, about 40 nm or less, about 30 nm or less,about 25 nm or less, about 20 nm or less, about 15 nm or less, about 10nm or less, or about 5 nm or less. For example, the patterning coating110 may have a thickness from about 1 nm to about 30 nm, from about 1 nmto about 25 nm, from about 1 nm to about 20 nm, from about 1 nm to about15 nm, from about 1 nm to about 10 nm, from about 5 nm to about 15 nm,or from about 5 nm to about 10 nm.

In some embodiments, the patterning coating 110 is light transmissive orsubstantially transparent. In some embodiments, the patterning coating110 does not exhibit significant absorption in the visible portion ofthe electromagnetic spectrum. For example, the visible portion of theelectromagnetic spectrum may generally correspond to wavelengths fromabout 390 nm to about 700 nm. In some embodiments, the patterningcoating 110 may have an optical absorption of about 25 percent or less,about 20 percent or less, about 15 percent or less, about 10 percent orless, about 5 percent or less, about 3 percent or less, or about 2percent or less in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.For example, the optical absorption may be calculated as an averageoptical absorption taken across the wavelength range of between about390 nm and about 700 nm. Alternatively, the optical absorption may bedetermined by measuring the absorption at certain wavelengths fallingwithin the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. For example,the optical absorption may be measured at a wavelength of about 400 nm,about 450 nm, about 500 nm, about 550 nm, about 600 nm, about 650 nm, orabout 700 nm. It may be particularly desirable for the patterningcoating 110 to be light transmissive or substantially transparent inembodiments wherein the pattering coating 110 is disposed over theemissive region 210 of the device 200. In such embodiments, thepatterning coating 110 exhibiting low optical absorption may notsignificantly interfere or absorb the light emitted by the device 200,and therefore may be particularly desirable. In some embodiments whereinthe patterning coating 110 is disposed over the emissive region 210 ofthe device 200 that is an AMOLED device, it may be desirable to form thepatterning coating 110 such that it does not exhibit significantabsorption in the wavelength range corresponding to the emissionwavelength of such device 200. For example, the patterning coating 110may have an optical absorption of about 25 percent or less, about 20percent or less, about 15 percent or less, about 10 percent or less,about 5 percent or less, about 3 percent or less, or about 2 percent orless in the wavelength range corresponding to the emission wavelength ofthe device 200. For example, such wavelength range may correspond towavelengths from about 420 nm to about 700 nm, or from about 440 nm toabout 650 nm. In other examples, such wavelength range may correspond tothe emission wavelengths associated with each color such as, forexample, from about 440 nm to about 475 nm for blue emission, from about520 nm to about 555 nm for green emission, and from about 610 nm toabout 650 nm for red emission.

In some embodiments, the patterning coating 110 is light transmissive orsubstantially transparent at least in its untreated form. Accordingly,referring to the embodiment of FIG. 12, the first region 112 of thepatterning coating 110 may be light transmissive or substantiallytransparent. In some embodiments, the patterning coating 110 is formedto be light transmissive or substantially transparent by forming thepatterning coating 110 using a patterning coating material exhibiting arelatively low optical absorption. In some embodiments, the patterningcoating 110 is formed as a relatively thin coating. In this way, thelight transmittance through the patterning coating 110 may be enhancedwhile allowing the second electrode 270 and the conductive coating 121to be electrically connected to one another without significantelectrical resistance due to the presence of the patterning coating 110.

In some embodiments, the patterning coating 110 includes, or is formedby, a patterning coating material exhibiting absorption in a portion ofthe visible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. For example,such patterning coating material may absorb light having a wavelengthless than about 550 nm, less than about 500 nm, less than about 450 nm,less than about 430 nm, or less than about 410 nm. For example, thepatterning coating 110 formed using such patterning coating material mayallow the patterning coating 110 to be treated by exposure to lighthaving a longer wavelength of, for example, greater than about 360 nm,greater than about 380 nm, greater than about 390 nm, greater than about400 nm, or greater than about 420 nm, or, for example, from about 360 nmto about 550 nm, from about 360 nm to about 500 nm, from about 360 nm toabout 460 nm, or from about 380 nm to about 450 nm to modify theaffinity or initial sticking probability of a portion of the patterningcoating 110. In some cases, it may be advantageous to treat thepatterning coating 110 using light having a longer wavelength to reducethe likelihood of such light damaging the device 200 or portionsthereof, such as the TFT 232, for example. The absorption of lightemitted by the emissive region 210 of the device 200 due to the presenceof the patterning coating 110 may be reduced by forming the patterningcoating 110 as a relatively thin coating having, for example, athickness from about 1 nm to about 30 nm, from about 3 nm to about 25nm, from about 5 nm to about 20 nm, from about 5 nm to about 15 nm, orfrom about 5 nm to about 10 nm.

In some embodiments, the device 200 further includes additional coatingsand/or elements such as, for example, an outcoupling layer, a colorfilter, optical compensation films, a circular polarizer, a quarter waveplate, an encapsulation coating including thin film encapsulation (TFE)layers, a barrier film, an adhesive including a optically clear adhesive(OCA), and a touch sensing element.

FIG. 13 illustrates a top view of the device 200 according to oneembodiment wherein the device 200 includes a plurality of emissiveregions 210. For example, the device 200 may be an AMOLED device andeach of the emissive regions 210 may correspond to a pixel or subpixelof such device. For example, the emissive regions 210 may be configuredto emit light of different colors such as red, green, blue, and white.The neighboring emissive regions 210 are separated by a non-emissiveregion 220. In some embodiments, a cross-section of the device 200 takenalong line I-I in FIG. 13 may correspond to the cross-sectionillustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of an AMOLED device 200′ having adiamond pixel arrangement according to one embodiment. The device 200′includes a plurality of PDLs 260 and emissive regions 2912 (sub-pixels)disposed between neighboring PDLs 260. The emissive regions 2912 includethose corresponding to first sub-pixels 210, which may, for example,correspond to blue sub-pixels, second sub-pixels 210 a, which may, forexample, correspond to green sub-pixels, and third sub-pixels 210 b,which may, for example, correspond to red sub-pixels. As would beappreciated, the regions between the emissive regions 2912 or subpixels210, 210 a, and 210 b constitute the non-emissive regions. In someembodiments, a cross-section of the device 200′ taken along line II-IIin FIG. 14 may correspond to the cross-section illustrated in theembodiment of FIG. 12.

It will be appreciated that AMOLED device 200, 200′ may include anynumber of emissive regions or subpixels. For example, the device 200,200′ may include a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel includes 2,3, or more subpixels. Furthermore, the specific arrangement of thepixels or subpixels with respect to other pixels or subpixels may bevaried depending on the device design. For example, the subpixels may bearranged according to suitable arrangement schemes such as RGBside-by-side, diamond, or PenTile®.

At least some of the above embodiments have been described in referenceto various layers or coatings, including a patterning coating and aconductive coating being formed using an evaporation process. As will beunderstood, an evaporation process is a type of PVD process where one ormore source materials are evaporated or sublimed under a low pressure(e.g., vacuum) environment and deposited on a target surface throughde-sublimation of the one or more evaporated source materials. A varietyof different evaporation sources may be used for heating a sourcematerial, and, as such, it will be appreciated that the source materialmay be heated in various ways. For example, the source material may beheated by an electric filament, electron beam, inductive heating, or byresistive heating.

In some embodiments, a conductive coating may include magnesium. Forexample, the conductive coating may be pure or substantially puremagnesium. In other embodiments, the conductive coating may include highvapor pressure materials, such as ytterbium (Yb), cadmium (Cd), zinc(Zn), or any combination thereof.

In one embodiment, a conductive coating may be substantiallynon-transmissive or opaque in the visible wavelength range of theelectromagnetic spectrum. For example, a relatively thick conductivecoating having an average thickness of about 60 nm or greater, about 80nm or greater, about 100 nm or greater, about 150 nm or greater, about200 nm or greater, about 400 nm or greater, about 500 nm or greater,about 600 nm or greater, about 800 nm or greater, or about 1 μm orgreater may be substantially non-transmissive or opaque, since thepresence of a thick coating would generally result in significantabsorption of light. In some embodiments wherein the conductive coatingacts as an auxiliary electrode for an AMOLED device, the thickness ofthe conductive coating may, for example, be from about 60 nm to about 5μm, from about 80 nm to about 3 μm, from about 100 nm to about 1 μm,from about 150 nm to about 1 μm, from about 200 nm to about 800 nm, orfrom about 250 nm to about 500 nm.

In another embodiment, a conductive coating may be substantiallytransparent or transmissive in the visible wavelength range of theelectromagnetic spectrum. For example, a relatively thin conductivecoating having an average thickness of about 60 nm or less, about 50 nmor less, about 40 nm or less, about 30 nm or less, about 20 nm or less,or about 10 nm or less may be substantially transparent or lighttransmissive. In another example, a conductive coating may besemi-transparent. For example, a conductive coating having an averagethickness from about 30 nm to about 200 nm, about 40 nm to about 150 nm,about 50 nm to about 100 nm, or about 50 nm to about 80 nm may allowpartial transmission of light therethrough, thus resulting in asemi-transparent coating.

In some embodiments, a conductive coating may be electricallyconductive. In some embodiments, the conductive coating includes, or isformed by, a metallic material.

A deposition source material used to deposit a conductive coating may bea mixture or a compound, and, in some embodiments, at least onecomponent of the mixture or compound is not deposited on a substrateduring deposition (or is deposited in a relatively small amount comparedto, for example, magnesium). In some embodiments, the source materialmay be a copper-magnesium (Cu—Mg) mixture or a Cu—Mg compound. In someembodiments, the source material for a magnesium deposition sourceincludes magnesium and a material with a lower vapor pressure thanmagnesium, such as, for example, Cu. In other embodiments, the sourcematerial for a magnesium deposition source is substantially puremagnesium. Specifically, substantially pure magnesium can exhibitsubstantially similar properties (e.g., initial sticking probabilitieson coatings) compared to pure magnesium (99.99% and higher puritymagnesium). Purity of magnesium may be about 95% or higher, about 98% orhigher, about 99% or higher, about 99.9% or higher, about 99.99% orhigher, or about 99.999% or higher. Deposition source materials used todeposit a conductive coating may include other metals in place of, or incombination with, magnesium. For example, a source material may includehigh vapor pressure materials, such as ytterbium (Yb), cadmium (Cd),zinc (Zn), or any combination thereof.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that processes of variousembodiments may be performed on surfaces of various organic or inorganicmaterials used as an electron injection layer, an electron transportlayer, an electroluminescent layer, and/or a PDL of an organicopto-electronic device. Examples of such materials include organicmolecules as well as organic polymers such as those described in PCTPublication No. WO 2012/016074. It will also be understood by personsskilled in the art that organic materials doped with various elementsand/or inorganic compounds may still be considered to be an organicmaterial. It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat various organic materials may be used, and the processes describedherein are generally applicable to an entire range of such organicmaterials.

It will also be appreciated that an inorganic substrate or surface canrefer to a substrate or surface primarily including an inorganicmaterial. For greater clarity, an inorganic material will generally beunderstood to be any material that is not considered to be an organicmaterial. Examples of inorganic materials include metals, glasses, andminerals. Other examples of surfaces on which the processes according tothe present disclosure may be applied include those of silicon orsilicone-based polymers, inorganic semiconductor materials, electroninjection materials, salts, metals, and metal oxides.

It will be appreciated that a substrate may include a semiconductormaterial, and, accordingly, a surface of such a substrate may be asemiconductor surface. A semiconductor material may be described as amaterial which generally exhibits a band gap. For example, such a bandgap may be formed between a highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)and a lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). Semiconductormaterials thus generally possess electrical conductivity that is lessthan that of a conductive material (e.g., a metal) but greater than thatof an insulating material (e.g., a glass). It will be understood that asemiconductor material may be an organic semiconductor material or aninorganic semiconductor material.

In some embodiments, a material for forming the patterning coating 110is physically and/or chemically modified upon being treated. In someembodiments, a surface of the patterning coating 110 is physicallyand/or chemically modified upon being treated. For example, thepatterning coating 110 may be treated by exposing the second region 114to an electromagnetic radiation while keeping the first region 112 ofthe patterning coating 110 unexposed to such radiation. For example, thesecond region 114 may be exposed to UV radiation in an oxygen-richenvironment, such as in air. In this way, the surface of the patterningcoating 110 disposed in the second region 114 may be chemically reactedto functionalize the surface with oxygen species. For example, oxygenspecies such as elemental oxygen (O) and/or hydroxyl group (OH) may bechemically bonded to the surface of the patterning coating 110 in thetreated second region 114, thereby increasing the affinity or initialsticking probability of such surface to evaporated flux of a conductivecoating material. In such embodiments, the concentration of an oxygenspecies on a surface in the second region 114 is greater than aconcentration of the oxygen species on a surface in the first region112, such as, for example, at least about 1.1 times greater, at leastabout 1.3 times greater, at least about 1.5 times greater, or at leastabout 2 times greater. Without wishing to be bound by any particulartheory, it is postulated that, at least in some cases, subjecting thepatterning coating 110 to such treatment may physically and/orchemically modify the surface while the remainder of the treatedpatterning coating 110 may be substantially unchanged. It is alsopostulated that, for example, such treatment may modify the compositionof the patterning coating 110 in a portion of the patterning coating 110disposed within about 5 nm of the surface of the coating 110, withinabout 3 nm of the surface of the coating 110, within about 2 nm of thesurface of the coating 110, or within about 1 nm of the surface of thecoating 110, while the remainder of the coating 110 is substantiallyunchanged or unmodified.

In some embodiments, the patterning coating 110 is formed integrally orcontinuously. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the patterning coating110 has a relatively uniform thickness. For example, even after treatingthe patterning coating 110 to form the first region 112 and the secondregion 114, the thickness of the patterning coating 110 in the firstregion 112 and the thickness of the patterning coating 110 in the secondregion 114 may substantially be identical to one another, such as wherethe former is within ±10% of the latter, or within ±5%, within ±4%,within ±3%, within ±2%, or within ±1%. In some embodiments, thethickness of the patterning coating 110 is unchanged upon treating thepatterning coating 100.

FIG. 15 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an AMOLED device 200″according to one embodiment wherein the semiconducting layer 250 isdeposited outside of the emissive region 210 and an outcoupling layer280 is provided over the first region 112 of the patterning coating 110and the conductive coating 121. Specifically in the embodiment of FIG.15, the semiconducting layer 250 is deposited both in the emissiveregion 210 and the non-emissive region 220 of the device 200″. Forexample, the semiconducting layer 250 may be deposited using a shadowmask having an aperture which is larger than the emissive region 210 ofthe device 200″. In this way, the semiconducting layer 250 may cover aportion of the PDL 260 in the non-emissive region 220. In anotherexample, the semiconducting layer 250 may be deposited using an openmask or without a mask as a common layer. For example, the device 200″may be configured to emit substantially white light, and a color filter(not shown) may be provided to selectively transmit the correspondingcolor of the pixel or subpixel from each emissive region 210. In theembodiment of FIG. 15, the outcoupling layer 280 is illustrated as beingprovided in the emissive region 210 and the non-emissive region 220 ofthe device 200″. For example, the outcoupling layer 280 may be formed asa common layer. In the illustrated embodiment, the outcoupling layer 280covers, and is in direct contact with, the first region 112 of thepatterning coating 110 and the conductive coating 121. Specifically insuch device configuration, the conductive coating 121 is arrangedbetween the second region 114 of the patterning coating 110 and theoutcoupling layer 280.

FIG. 16 illustrates a portion of an AMOLED device 200′″ according to yetanother embodiment wherein the AMOLED device 200′″ includes a pluralityof light transmissive regions. As illustrated, the AMOLED device 200′″includes a plurality of pixels 201 and an auxiliary electrode formed bya conductive coating 121 disposed between neighboring pixels 201. Eachpixel 201 includes a subpixel region 203, which further includes aplurality of subpixels 210, 210 a, 210 b, and a light transmissiveregion 205. For example, the subpixel 210 may correspond to a redsubpixel, the subpixel 210 a may correspond to a green subpixel, and thesubpixel 210 b may correspond to a blue subpixel. As will be explained,the light transmissive region 205 is substantially transparent to allowlight to pass through the device 200′″.

FIG. 17 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the device 200′″ takenalong line III-III as indicated in FIG. 16. Briefly, the device 200′″includes a TFT substrate 230 having a TFT 232 formed therein, and afirst electrode 240 (which may also be referred to as an anode) isformed on the TFT substrate 230. The anode 240 is in electricalcommunication with the TFT 232. A PDL 260 is formed on the TFT substrate230 and covers edges of the anode 240. A semiconducting layer 250 isdeposited to cover an exposed region of the anode 240 and portions ofthe PDL 260. A second electrode 270 (which may also be referred to as acathode) is then deposited over the semiconducting layer 250. Next, apatterning coating is deposited to cover both an emissive region and anon-emissive region, including the light transmissive region 205 of thedevice 200′″. The patterning coating is then treated to form the firstregion 112 and the second region 114. Specifically in the illustratedembodiment, the first region 112 is disposed in the emissive region andthe light transmissive region 205, while the second region 114 isdisposed in a portion of the non-emissive region outside of the lighttransmissive region 205. For example, the second region 114 maycorrespond to the non-emissive region of the device 200′″ wherein thesecond electrode 270 is provided, such that upon forming a conductivecoating 121 thereon, the conductive coating 121 and the second electrode270 may be electrically connected to each other. As explained above, byproviding the first region 112 of the patterning coating exhibiting alower affinity or initial sticking probability than the second region114, the deposition of the conductive coating 121 in the emissive regionor the light transmissive region 205 of the device 200′″ issubstantially inhibited. Therefore, the light transmissive region 205 issubstantially free of any materials which may substantially affect thetransmission of light therethrough. In particular, the TFT 232 and theconductive coating 121 are positioned outside the light transmissiveregion 205 such that these components do not attenuate or impede lightfrom being transmitted through the light transmissive region 205. Sucharrangement allows a viewer viewing the device 200′″ from a typicalviewing distance to see through the device 200′″ when the pixels are offor are non-emitting, thus creating a transparent AMOLED display device.In some embodiments, the TFT 232 and/or the conductive coating 121 maybe substantially transparent or light transmissive to allow light toalso be transmitted through such components or elements.

In other embodiments, various layers or coatings, including thesemiconducting layer 250 and the cathode 270, may cover a portion of thelight transmissive region 205 if such layers or coatings aresubstantially transparent. Alternatively, or in conjunction, the PDL 260may be omitted from the light transmissive region 205, if desired.

It will be appreciated that pixel and subpixel arrangements other thanthe arrangement illustrated in FIG. 16 may also be used, and theconductive coating 121 may be provided in other regions of a pixel. Forexample, the conductive coating 121 may be provided in the regionbetween the subpixel region 203 and the light transmissive region 205,and/or be provided between neighboring subpixels, if desired.

Various embodiments of the conductive coating 121 formed according tothe methods described above will now be described in further detail withreference to FIGS. 18 to 21. For example, various features of theconductive coating 121 described in relation to these figures may beapplicable to, and may be combined with, various other embodiments ofdevices and methods described herein.

FIG. 18 illustrates a portion of a device according to one embodiment.The first region 112 and the second region 114 of the patterning coatingare provided, and the conductive coating 121 is illustrated as beingdeposited over the second region 114. The conductive coating 121includes a first portion 123 and a second portion 125. As illustrated,the first portion 123 of the conductive coating 121 covers the secondregion 114 of the patterning coating, and the second portion 125 of theconductive coating 121 partially overlaps a portion of the first region112 of the patterning coating. Specifically, the second portion 125 isillustrated as overlapping the portion of the first region 112 in adirection that is perpendicular (or normal) to a surface onto which thepatterning coating and the conductive coating 121 are deposited.

Particularly in the case where the first region 112 is formed such thatits surface exhibits a relatively low affinity or initial stickingprobability against a material used to form the conductive coating 121,there is a gap 301 formed between the overlapping, second portion 125 ofthe conductive coating 121 and the surface of the first region 112.Accordingly, the second portion 125 of the conductive coating 121 is notin direct physical contact with the first region 112, but is spaced fromthe first region 112 by the gap 301 along the direction perpendicular tothe underlying surface, as indicated by arrow 300. Nevertheless, thefirst portion 123 of the conductive coating 121 may be in directphysical contact with the first region 112 at an interface or a boundarybetween the first region 112 and the second region 114 of the patterningcoating. As illustrated the first portion 123 of the conductive coating121 may be disposed over, and be in direct physical contact with, thesecond region 114 of the patterning coating.

In some embodiments, the overlapping, second portion 125 of theconductive coating 121 may laterally extend over the first region 112 bya comparable extent as a thickness of the conductive coating 121. Forexample, in reference to FIG. 18, a width w₂ (or a dimension along adirection parallel to the underlying surface) of the second portion 125may be comparable to a thickness t₁ (or a dimension along a directionperpendicular to the underlying surface) of the first portion 123 of theconductive coating 121. For example, a ratio of w₂:t₁ may be in a rangeof about 1:1 to about 1:3, about 1:1 to about 1:1.5, or about 1:1 toabout 1:2. While the thickness t₁ would generally be relatively uniformacross the conductive coating 121, the extent to which the secondportion 125 overlaps with the first region 112 (namely, w₂) may vary tosome extent across different portions of the surface.

In another embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19, the conductive coating 121further includes a third portion 127 disposed between the second portion125 and the first region 112 of the patterning coating. As illustrated,the second portion 125 of the conductive coating 121 laterally extendsover and is spaced from the third portion 127 of the conductive coating121, and the third portion 127 may be in direct physical contact withthe surface of the first region 112 of the patterning coating. Athickness t₃ of the third portion 127 may be less, and, in some cases,substantially less than the thickness t₁ of the first portion 123 of theconductive coating 121. Furthermore, at least in some embodiments, awidth w₃ of the third portion 127 may be greater than the width w₂ ofthe second portion 125. Accordingly, the third portion 127 may extendlaterally to overlap with the first region 112 to a greater extent thanthe second portion 125. For example, a ratio of w₃:t₁ may be in a rangeof about 1:2 to about 3:1 or about 1:1.2 to about 2.5:1. While thethickness t₁ would generally be relatively uniform across the conductivecoating 121, the extent to which the third portion 127 overlaps with thefirst region 112 (namely, w₃) may vary to some extent across differentportions of the surface. The thickness t₃ of the third portion 127 maybe no greater than or less than about 5% of the thickness t₁ of thefirst portion 123. For example, t₃ may be no greater than or less thanabout 4%, no greater than or less than about 3%, no greater than or lessthan about 2%, no greater than or less than about 1%, or no greater thanor less than about 0.5% of t₁. Instead of, or in addition to, the thirdportion 127 being formed as a thin film as shown in FIG. 19, thematerial of the conductive coating 121 may form as islands ordisconnected clusters on a portion of the first region 112 of thepatterning coating. For example, such islands or disconnected clustersmay include features which are physically separated from one another,such that the islands or clusters are not formed as a continuous layer.

FIG. 20 illustrates a yet another embodiment in which the conductivecoating 121 partially overlaps a portion of the first region 112 of thepatterning coating. As illustrated, the first portion 123 of theconductive coating 121 is in direct physical contact with the surface ofthe first region 112 in the portion of the surface labelled 116. In thisregard, the overlap in the portion 116 may be formed as a result oflateral growth of the conductive coating 121 during an open mask ormask-free deposition process. More specifically, while the surface ofthe first region 112 may exhibit a relatively low initial stickingprobability for the material of the conductive coating 121 and thus theprobability of the material nucleating on such surface is low, as theconductive coating 121 grows in thickness, the coating 121 may also growlaterally and may cover the portion 116 of the first region 112 asillustrated in FIG. 20. In such embodiment, the conductive coating 121may be disposed over, and be in direct physical contact with, the secondregion 114 as well as the overlap portion 116 of the first region 112 ofthe patterning coating.

Referring to the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 12, 15 and 18-20, whenthe conductive coating 121 is formed in an AMOLED device, the secondportion 125 and/or the third portion 127 of the conductive coating 121may be provided in the buffer region 215 of such device. Additionally oralternatively, the overlap portion 116 may be provided in the bufferregion 215.

It has been observed that, at least in some cases, conducting the openmask or mask-free deposition of the conductive coating 121 over atreated surface of the patterning coating can result in the formation ofthe conductive coating 121 exhibiting a tapered cross-sectional profileat or near the interface between the conductive coating 121 and thefirst region 112 of the patterning coating.

FIG. 21 illustrates one embodiment in which the thickness of theconductive coating 121 is reduced at, near, or adjacent to the interfacebetween the conductive coating 121 and the first region 112 due to thetapered profile of the conductive coating 121. Specifically, thethickness of the conductive coating 121 at or near the interface is lessthan the average thickness of the conductive coating 121. While thetapered profile of the conductive coating 121 is illustrated as beingcurved or arched (e.g., with a convex shape) in the embodiment of FIG.21, the profile may be substantially linear or non-linear (e.g., with aconcave shape) in other embodiments. For example, the thickness of theconductive coating 121 may decrease in substantially linear,exponential, quadratic, or other manner in the region proximal to theinterface.

A barrier coating (not shown) may be provided to encapsulate the devicesillustrated in the foregoing embodiments depicting AMOLED displaydevices. As will be appreciated, such a barrier coating may inhibitvarious device layers, including organic layers and a cathode which maybe prone to oxidation, from being exposed to moisture and ambient air.For example, the barrier coating may be a thin film encapsulation formedby printing, CVD, sputtering, atomic layer deposition (ALD), anycombinations of the foregoing, or by any other suitable methods. Thebarrier coating may also be provided by laminating a pre-formed barrierfilm onto the devices using an adhesive. For example, the barriercoating may be a multi-layer coating comprising organic materials,inorganic materials, or combination of both. The barrier coating mayfurther comprise a getter material and/or a desiccant in someembodiments.

Various layers and portions of a frontplane, including electrodes, thesemiconducting layers, the pixel definition layer, the patterningcoating and a capping layer may be deposited using any suitabledeposition processes, including thermal evaporation and/or printing. Itwill be appreciated that, for example, a shadow mask may be used asappropriate to produce desired patterns when depositing such materials,and that various etching and selective deposition processes may also beused to pattern various layers. Examples of such methods include, butare not limited to, photolithography, printing (including ink jetprinting, vapor jet printing, screen printing, and reel-to-reelprinting), OVPD, and LITI patterning.

Suitable materials for use to form a patterning coating include thoseexhibiting or characterized as having an initial sticking probabilityfor a material of a conductive coating of no greater than or less thanabout 0.1 (or 10%) or no greater than or less than about 0.05, and, moreparticularly, no greater than or less than about 0.03, no greater thanor less than about 0.02, no greater than or less than about 0.01, nogreater than or less than about 0.08, no greater than or less than about0.005, no greater than or less than about 0.003, no greater than or lessthan about 0.001, no greater than or less than about 0.0008, no greaterthan or less than about 0.0005, or no greater than or less than about0.0001 in its “low affinity” state, and in addition, exhibiting orcharacterized as having an initial sticking probability for a materialof a conductive coating of at least about 0.2 (or 20%), at least about0.4 (or 40%), at least about 0.6 (or 60%), at least about 0.7, at leastabout 0.75, at least about 0.8, at least about 0.9, at least about 0.93,at least about 0.95, at least about 0.98, or at least about 0.99 in its“high affinity” state.

In some embodiments, it may be particularly advantageous to use apatterning coating material wherein the initial sticking coefficient ofthe material in the “high affinity” state is greater than about 2 times,greater than about 5 times, greater than about 10 times, greater thanabout 15 times, greater than about 20 times, greater than about 30times, greater than about 50 times, or greater than about 100 times theinitial sticking coefficient in the “low affinity” state to achieveselective deposition of a conductive coating. For example, inembodiments wherein a treated second region of a patterning coating hasa higher affinity or initial sticking probability than an untreatedfirst region of the patterning coating, an initial deposition rate ofthe evaporated conductive material on the treated second region may beat least or greater than about 80 times, at least or greater than about100 times, at least or greater than about 200 times, at least or greaterthan about 500 times, at least or greater than about 700 times, at leastor greater than about 1000 times, at least or greater than about 1500times, at least or greater than about 1700 times, or at least or greaterthan about 2000 times an initial deposition rate of the evaporatedconductive material on the surface of untreated first region.

In some embodiments, suitable materials for use to form a patterningcoating include aromatic compounds. Examples of suitable aromaticcompounds include polycyclic aromatic compounds including organicmolecules which may optionally include one or more heteroatoms, such asnitrogen (N), sulfur (S), oxygen (O), phosphorus (P), fluorine (F), andaluminum (Al). In some embodiments, a polycyclic aromatic compoundincludes organic molecules each including a core moiety and at least oneterminal moiety bonded to the core moiety. A number of terminal moietiesmay be 1 or more, 2 or more, 3 or more, or 4 or more. In the case of 2or more terminal moieties, the terminal moieties may be the same ordifferent, or a subset of the terminal moieties may be the same butdifferent from at least one remaining terminal moiety. In someembodiments, at least one terminal moiety is, or includes, a biphenylylmoiety. In some embodiments, at least one terminal moiety is, orincludes, a phenyl moiety. In some embodiments, at least one terminalmoiety is, or includes, a tert-butylphenyl moiety. In some embodiments,at least one terminal moiety is, or includes, a cyclic or polycyclicaromatic moiety. An example of a polycyclic aromatic compound is TAZ,which refers to3-(4-biphenyl)-4-phenyl-5-tert-butylphenyl-1,2,4-triazole.

It will be appreciated that features described in various embodimentsmay also be applicable to, and be combined with other features describedin other embodiments. Unless a context clearly indicates otherwise, itwill also be appreciated that features, components, and/or elementsdescribed in singular forms may also be provided in plural forms andvice versa.

As used herein, the terms “substantially,” “substantial,”“approximately,” and “about” are used to denote and account for smallvariations. When used in conjunction with an event or circumstance, theterms can refer to instances in which the event or circumstance occursprecisely, as well as instances in which the event or circumstanceoccurs to a close approximation. For example, when used in conjunctionwith a numerical value, the terms can refer to a range of variation ofless than or equal to ±10% of that numerical value, such as less than orequal to ±5%, less than or equal to ±4%, less than or equal to ±3%, lessthan or equal to ±2%, less than or equal to ±1%, less than or equal to±0.5%, less than or equal to ±0.1%, or less than or equal to ±0.05%.

In the description of some embodiments, a component provided “on” or“over” another component, or “covering” or which “covers” anothercomponent, can encompass cases where the former component is directly on(e.g., in physical contact with) the latter component, as well as caseswhere one or more intervening components are located between the formercomponent and the latter component.

Additionally, amounts, ratios, and other numerical values are sometimespresented herein in a range format. It can be understood that such rangeformats are used for convenience and brevity, and should be understoodflexibly to include not only numerical values explicitly specified aslimits of a range, but also all individual numerical values orsub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value andsub-range is explicitly specified.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Any examples provided herein areincluded solely for the purpose of illustrating certain aspects of thedisclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure in any way. Anydrawings provided herein are solely for the purpose of illustratingcertain aspects of the disclosure and may not be drawn to scale and donot limit the disclosure in any way. The scope of the claims appendedhereto should not be limited by the specific embodiments set forth inthe above description, but should be given their full scope consistentwith the present disclosure as a whole. The disclosures of all documentsrecited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a substrate; apatterning coating covering at least a portion of the substrate, thepatterning coating comprising a single layer divided into one of a firstregion and a second region each extending substantially laterally alongthe substrate; and a conductive coating covering substantially all ofthe second region of the patterning coating, wherein the patterningcoating of the first region has a first initial sticking probability fora material of the conductive coating, the patterning coating of thesecond region has a second initial sticking probability for the materialof the conductive coating, and the second initial sticking probabilityis different from the first initial sticking probability.
 2. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the second initial sticking probability is greaterthan the first initial sticking probability.
 3. The device of claim 1,wherein the first region has a first degree of crystallinity, the secondregion has a second degree of crystallinity, and the second degree ofcrystallinity is greater than the first degree of crystallinity.
 4. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the first region is substantially free of theconductive coating.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is anopto-electronic device.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the device isan organic light emitting diode device.
 7. The device of claim 6,wherein the substrate comprises an emissive region and a non-emissiveregion.
 8. The device of claim 7, wherein the first region is arrangedto cover the emissive region, and the second region is arranged to coverthe non-emissive region.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein the substratefurther comprises a first electrode, a semiconducting layer, and asecond electrode disposed in the emissive region.
 10. The device ofclaim 9, wherein the semiconducting layer comprises an emissive layer.11. The device of claim 9, wherein the substrate further comprises athin film transistor, and the thin film transistor is electricallyconnected with the first electrode.
 12. The device of claim 9, whereinthe second electrode is electrically connected with the conductivecoating.
 13. The device of claim 9, wherein a sheet resistance of theconductive coating is less than a sheet resistance of the secondelectrode.
 14. The device of claim 1, wherein the patterning coatingcomprises a first surface region and a second surface region, the firstsurface region being disposed in the first region, and the secondsurface region being disposed in the second region.
 15. The device ofclaim 14, wherein a concentration of an oxygen species in the secondsurface region is greater than a concentration of the oxygen species inthe first surface region.
 16. The device of claim 1, wherein the firstregion of the patterning coating comprises a first material, and thesecond region of the patterning coating comprises a second materialdifferent from the first material.
 17. The device of claim 16, whereinan average molecular weight of the first material is less than anaverage molecular weight of the second material.
 18. The device of claim1, wherein the first region and the second region of the patterningcoating are integrally formed with each other.
 19. The device of claim1, wherein the conductive coating comprises magnesium.
 20. A method ofselectively depositing a conductive coating, the method comprising:providing a substrate and a patterning coating covering a surface of thesubstrate in a single layer; treating the patterning coating to divideit into form a first region having a first initial sticking probabilityfor a conductive coating material, and a second region having a secondinitial sticking probability for the conductive coating material; anddepositing the conductive coating material to form the conductivecoating covering substantially all of the second region of thepatterning coating.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the secondinitial sticking probability is greater than the first initial stickingprobability.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein treating the patterningcoating comprises exposing the second region to an electromagneticradiation.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the electromagneticradiation is ultraviolet radiation or extreme ultraviolet radiation. 24.The method of claim 22, wherein the patterning coating comprises apatterning coating material.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein awavelength of the electromagnetic radiation substantially matches anabsorption wavelength of the patterning coating material.
 26. The methodof claim 20, wherein, upon treating the patterning coating, aconcentration of an oxygen species in the second region is greater thana concentration of the oxygen species in the first region.
 27. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the patterning coating comprises apatterning coating material, and, upon treating the patterning coating,the patterning coating material in the second region is polymerized. 28.The method of claim 27, wherein an average molecular weight of thepatterning coating material in the first region is less than an averagemolecular weight of the patterning coating material in the secondregion.
 29. The method of claim 20, wherein depositing the conductivecoating material comprises exposing both the first region and the secondregion to an evaporated flux of the conductive coating material to formthe conductive coating covering the second region, while at least aportion of the first region remains uncovered by the conductive coating.30. The method of claim 20, wherein depositing the conductive coatingmaterial is performed using an open mask or without a mask.
 31. A methodof manufacturing an opto-electronic device, the method comprising:providing a substrate comprising an emissive region and a non-emissiveregion, the emissive region comprising: (i) a first electrode and asecond electrode, and (ii) a semiconducting layer disposed between thefirst electrode and the second electrode; depositing a patterningcoating in a single layer covering the emissive region and thenon-emissive region; treating a portion of the patterning coatingcovering the non-emissive region to increase an initial stickingprobability of the treated portion of the patterning coating; anddepositing a conductive coating covering the non-emissive region. 32.The method of claim 31, wherein the substrate comprises thesemiconducting layer arranged over the first electrode, and the secondelectrode arranged over the semiconducting layer.
 33. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the second electrode is disposed in both the emissiveregion and the non-emissive region.
 34. The method of claim 31, whereinthe patterning coating is disposed over, and in direct contact with, thesecond electrode.
 35. The method of claim 31, wherein the emissiveregion is arranged adjacent to the non-emissive region.
 36. The methodof claim 31, wherein treating the portion of the patterning coatingcomprises exposing the portion of the patterning coating to anelectromagnetic radiation.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein exposingthe portion of the patterning coating to the electromagnetic radiationis performed using a mask or a laser.
 38. The method of claim 31,wherein the conductive coating is deposited over, and in direct contactwith, the treated portion of the patterning coating covering thenon-emissive region.
 39. The method of claim 31, wherein depositing theconductive coating comprises exposing both the treated portion of thepatterning coating and a remaining portion of the patterning coating toan evaporated flux of a conductive coating material to deposit theconductive coating covering the non-emissive region, while at least aportion of the emissive region remains uncovered by the conductivecoating.
 40. The method of claim 31, wherein depositing the conductivecoating is performed using an open mask or without a mask.
 41. Themethod of claim 31, wherein, upon depositing the conductive coating, theconductive coating is electrically connected with the second electrode.